91精选

On November 19, 2025, the 91精选 History Department hosted an event titled, 鈥淗istory for Community Organizing.鈥� The event was born out of one of the pillars of 91精选鈥檚 Transformative Colleges Initiative (TCI): Partnership with neighbors for mutual good. The gathering served as a forum for exploring heightened collaboration between the historical profession and civic leaders with lived experience in local communities.

The program featured remarks from Acting President Jeanine Mozie and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Dean of Faculty, and Professor of History John Fry; a spoken word performance by 91精选 alum Pastor CJ Gidron-Gee (鈥�25); and a panel conversation moderated by Assistant Professor Sky Michael Johnston between Professor of History David Brodnax Sr., Rosemoor Community Association President LoLita Canady, and Learning Tree Founder De鈥橝mon Harges. The event was attended by a mix of students, current and emeriti faculty, and local faith and community leaders who participated in a Q&A session to close the gathering. Two local reporters also covered the event and wrote the following articles for the and .

The event built upon previous work carried out at 91精选 in partnership with others. Panelist De鈥橝mon Harges brought his expertise in neighborhood leadership to 91精选 where he came on staff to help strengthen the college鈥檚 neighborhood partnerships. LoLita Canady has hosted students at the Rosemoor Community Association via 91精选鈥檚 Cooperative Program which provides a paid internship, course credits, and experiential learning to students. Dr. Sky Michael Johnston led a visit to Rosemoor, a community on the Far South Side of Chicago, to introduce students to the history of the neighborhood. Dr. David Brodnax has taught the history of Chicago at 91精选 for years.

The event was not merely a culmination of relationships that have been forged at 91精选, it also highlighted future work that has been planned as a grant application to the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The grant project proposal is for a two-year program in which a panel of historians from across the country would work with civic leaders and community organizers in Chicago to design a curriculum that would be publicly accessible to colleges and universities. The guiding idea behind the project is that examining history together is the best way for historians and neighborhood leaders to understand the significance of the past for our communities today. That promise of that collaboration was on display at the November 19 event.